16 days italy

The people can tell you better info on if you are being too ambitious if you tell them if you have plane tickets what cities are you flying into and out of.

Since this is partly a heritage trip, I won't tell you not to go to Sicily for just five days. I do suggest, though, that you slow down and concentrate your time in places where there's a family connection. Lucky for you, those are great spots!

Palermo is a hectic city with wild traffic, but it has wonderful sights, primarily in the form of lovely churches and oratorios. The cathedral at Monreale (just a bit out of town) is spectacular.

Does your husband have a family connection to Marettimo Island? I haven't seen it, but I made quick visits to the other two Egadi Islands and found them underwhelming for someone not interested in lying on a sandy beach for hours. This would not be my choice of destination on such a brief trip to Sicily, absent a family connection. Marettimo is not a short ferry ride even from Trapani. I'm pretty sure it's not possible as a day-trip from Palermo due to the infrequency of the ferries. I'd encourage you to spend a couple of nights in Trapani to make that trip easier (if it's essential) and allow time both to visit the very pretty historic district in Trapani itself and to see the very evocative and old hill-town of Erice that's just outside Trapani. I think Erice is one of Sicily's top sights.

I would not devote a day to the Mt. Etna excursion from Palermo myself, unless there's a family connection there. Better to have more time for the northwest corner of the island than to spread yourself so thin and spend a great deal of time on the Sicilian highways. In the unlikely event that you have extra time, there are other sightseeing possibilities much closer to Palermo.

I hope you'll have another opportunity to visit Sicily and see more of the island. It's worth 2 or 3 weeks all by itself.

After Sicily, I'd travel to Naples then Rome. I think Pompeii and the Amalfi area will require separate days, and I'm not sure that will leave much time for Naples and family visits, so you might want three days for the stay in Naples.

I don't really think you have time for both Bologna and Venice after Rome, so I'd drop Venice on this trip. Bologna itself is very nice, plus there are many lovely smaller towns that can be easily visited from Bologna on day trips.

Easy to reach from Bologna are Ravenna and/or Ferrara.

I would fly from Catania to Napoli.

Naples to Bologna is a long trip. Much faster by train. Maybe ditch the car in Naples and relax on the train and enjoy the ride.

I agree with Zoe: fly from Catania to Naples and maximize use of your time. It is a 12 hour trip by ferry. If you do take the ferry, will you get a cabin so you can possibly sleep? Otherwise you'll be too exhausted to function the next day.

If you need a car in Sicily, rent and return it there. Driving in Palermo is very slow with people darting across main and side streets unexpectedly from between parked cars. There are too many cars for the streets and you won't find street parking. If there's parking near where you're staying, you can use it to see some of the sights and coastal towns south of Palermo. Skip Etna - it's not worth the hours of driving to get there and back. Fly from Palermo to the mainland.

If you want to see both the Amalfi Coast and Pompeii you need 2 full days. That means 3 nights in Naples. A car will only slow you down and if driving in Palermo is bad, in Naples it's your worst nightmare. Use the Circumvesuviana (commuter) train to Pompeii. Take a Trenitalia train to Salerno. Then use ferries and buses to get from town to town on the Amalfi Coast, then either ferry from Sorrento to Naples or skip sorrento and return to Salerno and train back.

If you want to see Venice on this trip, fly from Sicily to Venice (or Verona or Bologna which are close). Then go to Bologna. You can take day trips by train to several interesting towns from Bologna. From Bologna, train to Naples.

If you want to see both the Amalfi Coast and Pompeii you need 2 full days. That means 3 nights in Naples. A car will only slow you down and if driving in Palermo is bad, in Naples it's your worst nightmare. Use the Circumvesuviana (commuter) train to Pompeii. Take a Trenitalia train to Salerno. Then use ferries and buses to get from town to town on the Amalfi Coast, then either ferry from Sorrento to Naples or skip sorrento and return to Salerno and train back.

Then train from Naples to Rome.